Chris Wallace
President and CEO
469.359.5336
Chris Wallace has been President/CEO of the Commission since June, 2018. Under his leadership, the NTC is quickly building its strength and capacity uniting prominent leaders to tackle the greatest challenges for our 13-county region. Today, the NTC manages the region's legislative advocacy at the state/federal levels and is a resource for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Prior to joining the NTC, Wallace served as the President/COO of the Texas Association of Business. For 10 years, he served as President/ CEO of the Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber.
Wallace graduated from Texas Tech University from the College of Media and Communications. He was named an outstanding alumnus in 2008. In 2019 and 2020, Wallace was named among Dallas' 500 most powerful business leaders in DFW by D CEO Magazine.
Patrick Brophey
Chief Operating Officer
469.359.5333
As Chief Operating Officer, Brophey oversees the day-to-day management of the NTC office and team. He continues to serve as a leader and registered lobbyist on the Commission's lobby team and as a NTC board liaison. For the last 3 years, Brophey has been an integral member of the NTC team, and continues to show his expectational leadership and managment efforts.
Patrick graduated Texas Christian University in 2018 where he studied Communication and Political Science. Patrick has experience in government and politics on the local, state, and federal levels from working in legislative offices and on local and congressional Campaigns in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Patrick lives in Fort Worth with his wife, Caitlin.
Dawn Miller
Chief Administrative Officer
469.359.5335
Dawn Miller is the Chief Administrative Officer, responsible for the efforts, results, and success of the Commission. In this role, she provides financial advice and support to help senior management make key decisions, as well as coordinate office administration and procedures, to ensure organizational effectiveness, efficiency, and safety.
Dawn and her husband, Doug, live in Lewisville and have three grown children. A cornerstone member of the NTC staff, Dawn has been with the organization for over 30 years.
Ashley Mergele has been with the Commission since 2019. As Vice President of Communications & Issue-Based Advocacy, she leads the NTC's communications strategy and response. She also develops and coordinates issue advocacy campaigns that align with and help support the organization's legislative policy efforts.
Ashley has previously worked for the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and the City of San Marcos Main Street Program. She holds a B.A. in Communication Studies from Texas State University.
She lives in East Dallas with her mini Aussie, Winnie.
Ashley Mergele
Vice President, Communications &
Issue-Based Advocacy
469.359.5334
Christopher Lee
Director, State Relations
469.359.5327
Christopher Lee joined the Commission in January of 2022. As Director of State Relations, he leads NTC's legislative tracking and relationships. Christopher works closely on advocacy issues as part of the Commission's Legislative Team and manages the Higher Education Committee.
Christopher graduated from the University of North Texas where he served as Student Regent in 2017. Previously he worked with the Frisco Chamber of Commerce, JUUL Labs and the Texas Legislature. He brings more than five years of experience in local, state, and federal policy and politics to the NTC team.
Christopher lives in Allen with his wife, Karen, and their German Shepherd, Maverick.
469.359.5337
Caitlyn Sartin
Project Manager
As Project Manager for the North Texas Commission, Caitlyn is responsible for managing day-to-day tasks around the office. In addition, she provides support to the executive staff, supports event staff, and helps coordinate the Leadership North Texas program.
Caitlyn holds a B.S. in Human Development & Family Studies from Texas Tech University. She currently resides in Frisco with her fiance, Dillon, and two dogs, Duke and Tessa.
José Carreon
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Stakeholder Relations Manager
469.359.5324
As Stakeholder Relation's Manager, José oversees new member engagement efforts, stakeholder programs, and assists in managing NTC's Board of Directors, Executive Committee, and Councils. Additionally, he supports the Legislative Team by maintaining relations with our State and Federal delegation offices.
Prior to joining the NTC team, José served as Assistant Director of Marketing Campaigns at Dallas College. He has over 8 years of experience working in the Dallas political, non-profit, and higher education sectors.
José is an alum of Dallas College and the University of Texas at Austin. He currently resides in the Bishop Arts neighborhood in Dallas.
Linda Valdez Thompson
Director, Leadership Development & Diversity Programs,
Valdez Thompson Consulting, LLC.
Linda Valdez Thompson serves as the Director of Leadership North Texas. In this role, she manages all aspects of the Commission's leadership development programming.
Linda brings many years of regional leadership to the Commission. Previously, she served as the Executive Vice President of Administration, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at DFW Airport. During her time at the airport, she was one of the highest-ranking Latinas in the airport industry.
Linda has a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Midwestern State University and a Masters's in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix.
Marc Rodriguez
State Lobbyist
The Offices of Marc A. Rodriguez
Marc Rodriguez currently serves as one of the Commission's State Lobbyist.
In his work as a government relations consultant, he uses personal experience as an entrepreneur to identify with and understand his clients' industry challenges. Mr. Rodriguez has worked on state legislative issues for the last 13 consecutive Texas state legislative sessions and has a professional history of representing entities with elected and appointed boards.
Jennifer Rodriguez
State Lobbyist
Attorney-At-Law
Jennifer Rodriguez currently serves as one of the Commission's State Lobbyist.
Jennifer represents clients and governmental entities before the Texas Legislature and regulatory agencies. She primarily focuses on her practice on local government, occupational regulation, economic development, defense contracting and technology.
Jennifer has worked in state government and politics since 1995.
Jim Keffer
Senior Policy Advisor
For 20 years, Jim Keffer served in the Texas House of Representatives. During his time, he served as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, as well as the Economic Development, and Energy Resources Committees.
Jim currently resides in Eastland, where he is President of EBAA Iron Sales. He is a former Eastland County GOP Chair and graduate of Texas Tech University.
He currently serves as a senior policy advisor for the North Texas Commission. In this role, he helps the Legislative Team with policy issues.
Charles Luke
Policy Advisor, Education/Workforce Development, TEC Consultants
Dr. Charles Luke has over 35 years in business development, non-profit, and education-related work. A former Texas public school superintendents, Dr. Luke is a strong advocate for education throughout the State of Texas. He works closely with the Commission's Legislative Team to advocate for educational issues affecting North Texas.
Dr. Luke serves as the Director of the Coalition for Education Funding, is a co-director of Pastors for Texas Children, coordinator for the Coalition for Public Schools. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Veterans Coalition of Tarrant County.
Policy Advisor, Health & Well Being, Montgomery Strategies
Rebecca
Montgomery
Rebecca brings over 20 years of legislative and public affairs experience to the Commission. Using her expertise, she will assist the advocacy team with policy issues related to health & well-being.
Prior to working with MontgomeryGR and the Commission, Rebecca served as the Senior Vice President of Advocacy at the Fort Worth Chamber. She has a Bachelor of Science from Tarleton State University and a Nursing degree from Victoria College.
Chris Lamond
Federal Lobbyist, Thorn Run Partners
Chris Lamond brings significant experience in developing, implementing, and managing federal government relation strategies to the Commission.
Mr. Lamond founded Thorn Run Partners in 2010 after seven years with Ogilvy Government Relations. He has built a career representing clients before federal, state, and local governments and brings more than 20 years of experience working for and with governmental entities.
Kayleigh Maddie
Communications Counsel & Strategy,
Alpha Business Images, LLC
Kayleigh Maddie is an Account Executive with Alpha Business Images and serves on the NTC's communications team, assisting with media relations, communications, and member engagement.
Kayleigh formerly served as the Communications Manager at Southwest International Trucks. She holds a B.A. in Marketing from the University of North Texas. She resides in Dallas with her boyfriend John and their West Highland Terrier, Charlie.
Candy serves as the Executive Director of North Central Texas InterLink, Inc., a regional non-profit business-education alliance that bridges the gap between business and education.
She has 28 years' experience as a Labor Market Strategist forecasting occupations and skill. She has previously served in roles with the Greater Dallas Chamber and has held various board positions across the region.
Candy Slocum
Executive Director, North Central Texas InterLink